


steadily as snow comes down

by mozaikmage



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Ice Skating, M/M, Moscow, Snow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:41:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27500185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mozaikmage/pseuds/mozaikmage
Summary: Yuri and Otabek go ice skating in Gorky Park.
Relationships: Otabek Altin/Yuri Plisetsky
Comments: 7
Kudos: 40





	steadily as snow comes down

**Author's Note:**

> I went ice skating at gorky park in moscow once two years ago and thought "this would be a great setting for a yoi fic" but I was not in the mood to write it then. last week threw me right back to 2016, so. here we are now  
> I would like to live in the alternate universe yoi is set in where russia and russian ppl aren't extremely homophobic  
> the title is from evgenia sarikisyan's translation of "snow is falling" by boris pasternak bc I ran through my whole mental database of russian songs/poems about snow/winter/ice and this was the best I could come up with

“I swear it’s colder outside than at the rink,” Yuri grumbles, grabbing Otabek’s hand and shoving it in his coat pocket with less tenderness than urgency. 

“You’re probably right. It was minus 4 last time I checked,” Otabek replies. Otabek simply adjusts his grip and walks closer to Yuri, who leans into him. Even in the below-freezing winter temperatures of Moscow, Otabek feels warm. Safe.

It’s barely afternoon, but the sky is already dark as midnight. In retaliation, Moscow is drowning in illuminations — LED-studded giant snowflakes suspended across the roads, elaborate blue-and-gold sleighs and New Year’s ornaments installed on every snow-covered lawn. Glowing white rings hang from the gates to the park that Yuri is determinedly power-walking towards, dragging Otabek along with him. 

“I used to come here a lot with Grandpa, when I was really little,” Yuri explains. “It’s cooler now, though. I checked it out yesterday.”

Otabek nods solemnly.

Yuri glances at him. “Have you been to Gorky Park before?” 

Otabek shakes his head. “Never had the time. And I’ve only been to Moscow at all once.”

“It’s a good thing you have me, then.” 

Otabek smiles softly, and nods. “It is.”

The rink is close to the entrance of the park, being its main attraction during the winter months. The bored teenager checking tickets doesn’t look up from her phone as she waves them through.

“I’m surprised you haven’t been recognized yet,” Otabek points out, lacing up his skates.

“My disguise is impeccable,” Yuri retorts, pulling his leopard-patterned scarf higher up on his face and his hoodie lower. He jumps up, impatient. “Let’s go skate!”

The ice skating rink, when they reach it, is less of a rink than a maze of long, narrow stretches of ice weaving in and out through the park. Strings of twinkling fairylights hang overhead, while the ice glows from below. The surface of the rink is more scratched up than the indoor rinks Yuri’s used to, but it’s still ice. Still home.

“Race you,” Yuri says, and zooms off, weaving around kids taking lessons and couples on dates. 

Otabek sighs, and follows.

The rink is oddly shaped for figure skating, and crowded for a weeknight. But there’s something about the sharp, bracing winter air and the dark pink of the cloudy night sky that make it feel more magical than the indoor rinks of competitions. 

When Otabek catches up to Yuri, the other boy’s giving tips to a kindergartener in a pink snowsuit. The girl is holding onto the railing of the rink like a lifeline, watching Yuri explain how figure skates work with starry eyes.

“Got that? Okay, now try again,” Yuri says. 

The girl sniffles loudly and lets go of the railing, then leans on one leg and glides forward. “I’m doing it!” 

“There you go. Just keep practicing.” Yuri makes eye contact with Otabek, and flushes. “She bumped into me and started crying, and I had to do  _ something. _ I’m not that much of an asshole.”

“So your immediate instinct when faced with a crying child is to... teach her how to skate?”

“Yes?” Yuri blinks at him. “What else was I supposed to do?”

Otabek leans down until his face is level with the kid. “Where are your parents?” 

“My mom’s over there.” The kid points to the opposite railing where a woman is taking pictures of this whole scene. 

“Do you think you can skate over to her?” Otabek asks.

The girl nods. Then hesitates. “There are a lot of people going the other way, though...”

“Don’t worry, we’ll help you,” Otabek says. He reaches a hand out, and the little girl grabs on gratefully.

Yuri rolls his eyes, but takes the girl’s other hand. “Come on.”

They end up dragging her across the ice more than helping her skate, but she grabs onto her mom’s legs with evident relief.

“Thank you so much,” the mother tells them. “She’s always so independent, just decided to go off by herself and then...”

Yuri nods gruffly, then crouches to talk to the girl again. “If you get really good at skating, you’ll learn how to do some super cool tricks, and it’s the most fun thing in the world. So keep practicing, okay?”

The girl nods fervently. “Thank you so much!”

Yuri scoffs, blushing under his scarf. “Whatever.”

The mom’s eyes widen in recognition then, so Yuri takes Beka’s hand and says, “Good luck!” before skating away. 

“I didn’t know you were so good with kids,” Otabek remarks. 

“I’m not,” Yuri huffs. “She was less annoying than those demonic triplets in Hasetsu, though.” He veers to one side to avoid bumping into some random stranger. Otabek leans with him.

“Have you ever thought about coaching? After you retire, I mean.”

Yuri grimaces. “And have everyone tell me I’m following in Viktor’s footsteps again? Pass. And anyway, that’s a long way off. For you, too, so there’s no use thinking about it now.”

Otabek shrugs. Yuri links arms with him, and they keep skating, close together. 

“...Have  _ you  _ thought about coaching?” Yuri finally asks. 

Otabek shrugs again. “Wouldn’t mind it, I suppose. But you’re right, it’s a while off.”

It’s cold outside, but Otabek is warm, so Yuri burrows into him. No one’s paying any attention to them, two guys on a date among dozens of other couples on similar dates. Yuri likes being the center of attention usually, but there’s something novel in this too, being on the ice without anyone watching. The lights are different, too, yellow and moody instead of the sterile fluorescents of indoors. More... romantic.

They skate around in a long, large circle, chatting idly about whatever, until they come up to a row of kiosks selling hot drinks. Yuri gets a hot chocolate and Otabek a mint tea without even stepping off the ice.

“I don’t think this is very safe,” Otabek decides, squinting at the paper cup and the fact that they’re still on ice skates. 

“It’s about the  _ atmosphere _ ,” Yuri says. “But point taken. I don’t want to get hot chocolate all over myself.”

They sit down on the steps in front of the kiosk and sip their drinks. It started to snow at some point in the past few minutes, and it’s cold enough that the snowflakes spin down in perfect glittering six-pointed stars.

Otabek holds out a gloved hand and catches one in his palm. “Make a wish,” he says, holding his palm out in front of Yuri.

“Is wishing on snowflakes a thing?”

“My grandma did it. Come on, before it melts.”

Yuri rolls his eyes. “Okay, done. Now what?”

Otabek shrugs. The snowflake, purpose fulfilled, seeps into his glove. “What did you wish for?”

“It won’t come true if I say it,” Yuri huffs. “That’s definitely a thing.”

“Hmm.”

“Why, what did you wish for?”

“So you don’t want my wish to come true?” Otabek quirks an eyebrow at him, and Yuri elbows his boyfriend in return. 

“Fine, don’t tell me.” Yuri crumples his empty paper cup in his fist and stands up, pulling Otabek with him as he throws both of their cups in the trash can before continuing down the skating path.

“I wished we had more time to do things like this,” Otabek says quietly, as they glide around another twinkly-light sculpture of a New Year’s tree. He’s holding Yuri’s hand again, and Yuri doesn’t want him to ever let go. Even when he says things like that, so sincere it’s almost painful.

Yuri turns around with a look of furious embarrassment half-hidden by his scarf. “You’d waste a wish on that? Why didn’t you ask for gold at the Grand Prix Final or something?”

“That would be cheating,” Otabek deadpans. “I can’t rely on snowflakes to win gold.” Yuri snorts, and spins around abruptly to pull Otabek in a hug. 

“I wish we had more time to do things like this, too,” Yuri admits, mumbling the words into Otabek’s coat. 

Otabek pulls him close and breathes him in. 

The rink glows, the sky looks black against the bright lights overhead. Above them, the snowflakes continue to fall.

**Author's Note:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/mozaikmage/) [tumblr](https://cubistemoji.tumblr.com/)


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